Trading a macbook pro 2011 for a Lenovo Y-50 70?

[Mike341]

so i'm in a position where i can sell my 3 years old macbook pro 15" early 2011 version for the same price that i can get a Y50 here.
the one with 4K resolution, 1TB hybrid drive, 860M (4gb), 16GB of ram, and an i7 cpu.

i need it for work, the portability and gaming (it will be my main gaming machine).
the specs look great on paper, but i have some doubts. mainly:

The main concern is the display.
-first of, the 48hz. this is set in stone right? i cannot make that 60hz by going 1080p?
-secondly, the 4K in windows problem. will this apply in windows 7? that's what i will be using.

Another concern is the keyboard. i can't figure out from people if it sucks or if it's good. how is it for typing? how is it for gaming? as a reference, i can say i very much like the macbook keyboard for typing. its the best.

A last concern would be the touchpad. once again, coming from the (dare i say) perfection of a macbook, i'm a bit worried. is it reasonable?

The reason i'm considering this one is because its so cheap for what it is!!
nothing comes close to it when it comes to bang for your buck, and its an improvement over the macbook pro 2011 in every way, or have i been misinformed?

if i could, should i get the 1080p version over this one? or is the viewing angles etc. too crap in comparison? as far as i know, it will consume less power though

EDIT: i've been trying to figure out what the Hz of the screen of the macbook pro is to compare, but i cannot find any information on that. it's very smooth for basic use though.

 

[Bolin]

There's no reason to get a 4k screen, 768p is barely noticeable and 1080p is more than enough

 

[Mike341]

There's no reason to get a 4k screen, 768p is barely noticeable and 1080p is more than enough

i'm aware of that. but it's the easiest one to get for me. if i could, and the screen is not crap, i would go for the 1080p display any day. hence, the questions to find out whether it is or not.

 

[Bolin]

There's no reason to get a 4k screen, 768p is barely noticeable and 1080p is more than enough

i'm aware of that. but it's the easiest one to get for me. if i could, and the screen is not crap, i would go for the 1080p display any day. hence, the questions to find out whether it is or not.

Get the 4k screen then, there's no reason to switch to lower either

 

[Mike341]

There's no reason to get a 4k screen, 768p is barely noticeable and 1080p is more than enough

i'm aware of that. but it's the easiest one to get for me. if i could, and the screen is not crap, i would go for the 1080p display any day. hence, the questions to find out whether it is or not.

Get the 4k screen then, there's no reason to switch to lower either

sure there is. i mentioned my concerns in the main post...

 

[Bolin]

"The reason i'm considering this one is because its so cheap for what it is!!
nothing comes close to it when it comes to bang for your buck, and its an improvement over the macbook pro 2011 in every way, or have i been misinformed? "

You're not missinformed, apple devices are usually more expensive, there are similar deals if you look at other brands. Yeah, the y50 is among the best for the budget.

"if i could, should i get the 1080p version over this one? or is the viewing angles etc. too crap in comparison? as far as i know, it will consume less power though "

Nope, the 1080p would consume less power having less pixels but it still has to light the screen. The difference isn't like the 4k screen will half your battery-life

"EDIT: i've been trying to figure out what the Hz of the screen of the macbook pro is to compare, but i cannot find any information on that. it's very smooth for basic use though."

It's 60hz or rev/s (frame/s, actually). I'd rather have a 1080p screen at 60hz than a 4k screen at 48hz as it's smoother and barely to not noticeable difference for a normal person, there's also the small battery boost and it's cheaper. However, you say the 4k screen is easier to get for you and that's nothing I can make a fact about.

 

[Mike341]

Thanks for that answer, it was very useful. my most important question is this:
If i set the resolution in windows and in the nvidia panel to 1080p on this computer, will it run at 60hz?
This would be assuming that the display connection is the bottleneck and not something in the display itself. Like, if it's using displayport and running 4k at 48hz, the display is the bottleneck, but if it was running a weak connection like vga or even hdmi 1.4, the connection would be the bottleneck. so which one is it? if i can get a 1080p ips display at 60hz out of this thing, there would be no doubt in my mind.

 

[Bolin]

Thanks for that answer, it was very useful. my most important question is this:
If i set the resolution in windows and in the nvidia panel to 1080p on this computer, will it run at 60hz?
This would be assuming that the display connection is the bottleneck and not something in the display itself. Like, if it's using displayport and running 4k at 48hz, the display is the bottleneck, but if it was running a weak connection like vga or even hdmi 1.4, the connection would be the bottleneck. so which one is it? if i can get a 1080p ips display at 60hz out of this thing, there would be no doubt in my mind.

Screens always look better in their native resolution but it can be ignored. I don't see much difference when gaming on 768p or 1080p as long as the ratio is the same (16:9) which is the case with 1920px1080p and the 4k screen that comes with lenovo. I believe it will still refresh at 30hz If I am not mistaken. If all you want to do is watch high quality media at such resolution I guess you should go for the 4k screen, However, if you want to game or do the casual browsing I suggest the 1080p screen. 4k screens are not worth it IMO, maybe in the future.

 

[xxsjxx1]

Just get the 1080p screen. 4k is overkill at 15" especially when you add in the fact that it may only run at 48hz, and that it's useless when gaming for the most part since that graphics card can't really handle that resolution on a high end game.

Other than that, I have a y40 and I love it, the track pad is accurate and responsive, the keyboard is weird... The keys are spaced and have super low travel, but I'm sure that was done to keep the laptop thin.

Build quality is great on mine, I would actually compare it to an apple product. The case is sturdy and looks premium.

 

[Bolin]

Just get the 1080p screen. 4k is overkill at 15" especially when you add in the fact that it may only run at 48hz, and that it's useless when gaming for the most part since that graphics card can't really handle that resolution on a high end game.

Other than that, I have a y40 and I love it, the track pad is accurate and responsive, the keyboard is weird... The keys are spaced and have super low travel, but I'm sure that was done to keep the laptop thin.

Build quality is great on mine, I would actually compare it to an apple product. The case is sturdy and looks premium.

agree, 4k screens are supposed to be on 25'' panels. No GPU will handle 4k screens fine, you need atleast double 780s ti in order to get "decent" framerate on modern games

 

[velo3100]

I would definitely buy the lenovo with the 1080p screen as 4k is not really needed.

First it will put unnecessary strain on the cpu, gpu and battery. This will make the battery life much worse when you are doing normal things like surfing the web.

Second, I don't know how good the keyboard is as I have never used one but knowing the brand, they do make good keyboards.

Third, the trackpad I can't comment for the same reason I mentioned above

Fourth, most games run well on this resolution and don't run well on 4k

Fifth, windows scaling is worse in 7 then 8. 8.1 handles it the best but 8 is just as good in my opinion

 

[Mike341]

you guys don't understand my pickle though. first of, there's the fact that the 4k version is the only one easily accessible to me atm. so it's the obvious choice. getting the 1080p version has downsides in terms of store providing warranty.

and about the screen. i've heard that the 1080p versions screen is terrible, even by non-ips standards. bad viewing angles, bland colors etc.
also, i'm planning to run the 4k version in 1080p at all times, since the 4k does indeed only seem like a bother. and taking the whole "looks worse in non-native resolution", from a logical perspective, of course 1080p is worse than 4k. but the comparison that should be made is this vs other 1080p displays. and there i think this stacks up pretty well. i mean, it's precisely 4 pixels in every actual pixel when running it in 1080p. same ratio.
i'm gonna call lenovo tomorrow and hear if i can have it run at 60hz when i jack the resolution down to 1080p.

basically, the 1080p version is a last resort, because of reasons previously stated. the top possible deal breaker for the 4k version at the moment would be that it cant reach 60hz even if i go 1080p. but we'll learn about that tomorrow. the price difference is evened out by the fact that i (according to most people) should replace the screen for a bearable one with the 1080p display, which would also void warranty for the display at least.
i will report back

 

[Bolin]

you guys don't understand my pickle though. first of, there's the fact that the 4k version is the only one easily accessible to me atm. so it's the obvious choice. getting the 1080p version has downsides in terms of store providing warranty.

and about the screen. i've heard that the 1080p versions screen is terrible, even by non-ips standards. bad viewing angles, bland colors etc.
also, i'm planning to run the 4k version in 1080p at all times, since the 4k does indeed only seem like a bother. and taking the whole "looks worse in non-native resolution", from a logical perspective, of course 1080p is worse than 4k. but the comparison that should be made is this vs other 1080p displays. and there i think this stacks up pretty well. i mean, it's precisely 4 pixels in every actual pixel when running it in 1080p. same ratio.
i'm gonna call lenovo tomorrow and hear if i can have it run at 60hz when i jack the resolution down to 1080p.

basically, the 1080p version is a last resort, because of reasons previously stated. the top possible deal breaker for the 4k version at the moment would be that it cant reach 60hz even if i go 1080p. but we'll learn about that tomorrow. the price difference is evened out by the fact that i (according to most people) should replace the screen for a bearable one with the 1080p display, which would also void warranty for the display at least.
i will report back

"the 4k version is the only one easily accessible to me atm"
Why did you start the discussion in first place, then? it's not like we're gonna ship it to you

"getting the 1080p version has downsides in terms of store providing warranty."
Lenovo should cover your warranty whether you bought it in an store 2 blocks from home or one that's far away in mars

"and about the screen. i've heard that the 1080p versions screen is terrible, even by non-ips standards. bad viewing angles, bland colors etc. "
Debatable, but yes. There have been many complains on lenovo y50's screens

"also, i'm planning to run the 4k version in 1080p at all times, since the 4k does indeed only seem like a bother. and taking the whole "looks worse in non-native resolution", from a logical perspective, of course 1080p is worse than 4k. but the comparison that should be made is this vs other 1080p displays. and there i think this stacks up pretty well. i mean, it's precisely 4 pixels in every actual pixel when running it in 1080p. same ratio. "

I think we've come to a missunderstanding, the 1080p screen is better than the 4k screen downscaling to 1080p whether it's the same ratio or not.

"i'm gonna call lenovo tomorrow and hear if i can have it run at 60hz when i jack the resolution down to 1080p."
I am pretty sure the answer is negative but it's better to call and be sure

"the price difference is evened out by the fact that i (according to most people) should replace the screen for a bearable one with the 1080p display, which would also void warranty for the display at least. "
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMjUo-FUbp4 See videos on youtube so that you can judge how good the screen is by yourself

 

[Mike341]

the refresh rate for the 4K is caused by an intel driver. little known fact only way for it to reach 60hz (which it technically could) would be for intel to roll out a fix.

but eh, i've found a local store selling the 1080p version at a decent price, so i'll go for that one. i'll calibrate the screen colors to make them not shit as people say, and if the viewing angles become too much of a problem, i'll get a new display for it. they cost £60 on amazon, so it's not all awful

 

[pavloskl]

Hi Mike. Did you finally get the 1080p? I am currently in your position and I am wondering if you are happy with the one you got.

Thanks.
Pavlos